Hayden Panettiere opened up about motherhood and addiction months before her death at 36

Aug 17, 2026 11:25 AM - 4 weeks ago 6

Actor Hayden Panettiere has died astatine 36, her typical told ABC News connected Monday.

"It is pinch profound sadness that we stock the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden. She was an unthinkable ray and a unit of quality who brought immeasurable emotion and joyousness to each who knew her — and to the millions who watched her onscreen," her father, Skip Panettiere, said successful a connection to the outlet.

The family did not instantly supply immoderate different specifications astir her death.

Panettiere began her acting profession arsenic a child, pinch 1 of her earliest awesome roles arsenic Sarah Roberts connected the ABC soap opera "One Life to Live," connected which she appeared from 1994 to 1997.

She later became wide known for playing Claire Bennet successful the deed bid "Heroes" and Juliette Barnes successful the philharmonic play "Nashville."

In her memoir, released connected May 19, Panettiere wrote astir her struggles pinch postpartum slump aft giving commencement to her girl successful 2014.

"It wasn't panic that was sitting successful my chest. It was nothing. A full blackout of emotion, for illustration my psyche was dead," she wrote.

To woody pinch her symptoms, she turned to intoxicant to get "those happy hormones," she wrote.

"The first point I'd thought of erstwhile I woke up was alcohol. Not my child, not my job, and not the remainder of my life. I needed a portion to usability — astatine 6 a.m.," Panettiere wrote.

In 2018, Panettiere signed complete afloat custody of her girl to the child's father, Wladimir Klitschko, saying she believed it was champion for her daughter.

This communicative is developing. Please cheque backmost for updates.

Amanda is simply a elder manner newsman astatine Business Insider's Singapore bureau.Her reporting explores really group navigate awesome life transitions, including profession changes, relocation, and retirement, pinch a peculiar attraction connected the experiences of those surviving successful Asia. She besides writes astir travel, culture, wellness, and relationships.In 2025, she won the Singapore Press Club's Rising Stars Young Digital Journalist Award.She antecedently worked arsenic a writer and video shaper astatine a contented trading agency successful Singapore. She graduated from the University astatine Buffalo pinch a BA (Hons) successful Sociology.